TODAY: Leaders move towards Ukraine weapons pull-back deal; Naryshkin says Crimea was annexed by Ukraine in 1991; Putin’s ratings high but he will resign in 2019, predicts Khodorkovsky; Russian football has a racism problem says UN and FIFA; German exports fall under sanctions.

TODAY: Putin makes conciliatory address to Obama, saying good relations would ensure world security; isolation driving Russia’s aggression; VTB and Sberbank struggling in London; Nemtsov party Parnas elects new leader; Melamed case is a bid to oust Chubais? Iran to become major energy competitor to Russia.

TODAY: Kudrin suggests early elections as solution to long-standing need for economic reform; perspectives on state of economy differ at SPIEG; Greek Prime Minister’s attendance spurs discussion of new Moscow-Athens axis; Kremlin reacts to seizure of assets over Yukos case; Kaliningrad as military hotbed; anti-opposition hacker ‘Hell’ to have his day in court; pot hole […]

TODAY: National Endowment for Democracy declared the first undesirable organisation in Russia; Putin’s former ‘banker’ offers his insights into the machinations of the regime; opposition activists on hunger strike in Novosibirsk; plans to make patriotic cuisine a requirement for restaurants; pop stars protest Kremlin’s plans for regime-friendly talent hothouse; Britain complains about interference in Litvinenko inquiry; Gazprom […]